List of Attacks

Remarrying a Divorced Wife

What must a divorced Muslim wife do before her husband can take her back?

According to the Quran, a woman who is divorced by her husband (which is
easy for him to do) can only be taken back if she first marries another
man and he divorces her.

Quran

Quran (2:230)
- "So if a husband divorces his wife (irrevocably), He cannot, after that,
re-marry her until after she has married another husband and He has divorced
her..."

Hadith and Sira

Sahih Bukhari (063:190) - Muhammad tells a woman that she cannot return to her
first husband until she has sexual relations with another man.

Abu Dawud also confirms this rule in two places: 2192 and 2302.

Notes

In Islam, it is called Nikah Halala.

If, in a fit of anger, a man pronounces the 'triple talaq'
(repeating "I divorce you" three times) to his wife, they are divorced under
Islamic law. However, if the couple wishes to reconcile - perhaps for the
sake of their children - they cannot do this until she first marries and
divorces another man.

The requirement is not symbolic. Muhammad was very
clear that the interim marriage must be consummated.

This command is utterly degrading to the woman, who may
have done nothing to merit her husband's rage, yet must bear the brunt of his
temper in the most humiliating way. This is certainly irrefutable
evidence that sexism is deeply rooted in Islam.

The Quran (2:229-230)
says that divorce and remarriage can only take place twice before the marriage
is permanently unlawful.

In 2014, a young Kuwaiti
offered money to a stranger to temporarily marry his wife so that they could be re-married. In 2017, it was learned that religious scholars in India were being paid to sleep with divorced women in order to satisfy the Quranic requirement.